


Tell Her Yourself

by RoxyLily



Series: Umbrella Academy Fix-Its [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Episode Fix-it, Fix-It, Gen, Good Sibling Klaus Hargreeves, No Incest, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves Deserves Better, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Vanya Hargreeves-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25618462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoxyLily/pseuds/RoxyLily
Summary: Vanya came back to to the Academy hoping to find Allison alive and to beg for forgiveness. She doesn't know what to expect when she's greeted by Klaus.
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Series: Umbrella Academy Fix-Its [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1856971
Comments: 7
Kudos: 630





	Tell Her Yourself

**Author's Note:**

> Luther messed this scene up so badly that I had to send in Klaus to fix it. The italicized words are borrowed from the show.

Vanya took what was supposed to be a calming breath, though it didn’t do much to relieve the feeling of her throat closing and the subsequent lightheadedness. She opened the large oak doors and stepped into the Academy in spite of her fear. Never before had the large, empty foyer appeared more intimidating to her than it did in that moment. It struck her that the room was a good representation of the family that once lived there, nice to look at from the outside but empty and cold within—broken and shattered like the chandelier that lay at her feet.

_“Hello?”_ she called, her voice only sounding half as shaky as she felt. She was scared of what her siblings would do to her, what they’d tell her. Growing up in the Umbrella Academy had always given her the impression that she didn’t deserve the air she breathed, but now she was certain that she deserved nothing less than a slow and incredibly painful death.

_“Vanya.”_

It was Klaus. She had been so consumed in her guilt and anxiety that she hadn’t even noticed him descending the staircase in the middle of the room.

“I’m sorry,” she choked out. The words were small and feeble to her ears, only highlighting how little they would do to make up for all that she’d done.

“I know,” Klaus said. He looked serious, lacking any of the carefree energy or general humor that he usually embodied. Vanya felt her stomach plunge as the world started to tunnel around her. Looking at Klaus’ somber expression, she wished she could fall into her sinking surroundings and never resurface. She had been planning to ask if they’d been able to save Allison, clinging to the hope that that they’d somehow managed it, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask the question. She didn’t have to. One look at Klaus was enough to tell her that Allison hadn’t made it.

_“What happened?” he asked._

_“We got in an argument, and things got out of control. I didn’t mean to hurt her. Please, you have to believe me.”_

_“I do,”_ his voice sounded so somber and the silence that followed was stifling.

_“It was an accident. And I was… I was angry, and… Uh, it just happened.”_ The words fell flat as she scrambled for a way to explain the rush of unchecked emotion and uncontrollable power she had felt when confronting Allison.

She had been confused and scared. Allison was telling her things about Leonard, things she hadn’t wanted to believe. Leonard had been the first one, the only one to really understand her and care about her—or so she had thought. Then Allison tried to tear that away from her and sure, she didn’t know why Allison would lie, but she didn’t really have a reason to trust her sister either.

Allison had been suspicious of Leonard from the moment she met him—before she could possibly have had any real reason to suspect foul play. The only reason that had come to mind at the time was that Allison thought her too ordinary to actually be noticed by anyone, even by someone as insignificant as Leonard.

Then Vanya had learned that her whole life, everything she had suffered was because of Allison. The confusion lingered but her fear became anger. When Allison tried to “rumor” her again, she lost it. For a second she was sure the words “that you are ordinary” would follow and she couldn’t bear to hear those word one more time, especially not from the one person who had the power to make them true. She had been controlled all her life, by Allison more than anyone else, she couldn’t let it happen again. Everything that followed happened too fast.

Vanya couldn’t really remember slitting her sister’s throat. She remembered watching her sister clutching at her neck and gasping for air moments before she fell to the ground, but it had all played out silently. She hadn’t been able to hear anything over the rhythm of her heart pounding in her ears. Felt herself screaming in horror and calling her sister’s name but it had all been drowned out.

She wrung her hands together and subconsciously pulled her sleeves down to cover them. The blood on her hands would never leave, and Allison was gone, and it was all her fault. Everything was her fault. If only she’d been better, stronger, more in control. Allison was right, she’s not a kid anymore, it’s time she accepted responsibility for her actions.

Klaus didn’t respond. She almost wished he would. She wanted him to yell at her for killing Allison and for her subpar excuse. She was waiting for the moment when this oddly quiet Klaus would tell her she had no business coming back to the Academy. Instead he just stood there for a moment, staring at her with unbearably sad eyes. The silence between them was thick and uncomfortable. Vanya wanted to tear her gaze away from him and look at anything else, but she forced herself to keep her eyes resolutely locked on his face. She deserved it, she was the cause of her brother’s mournful expression, and she could do nothing to fix it; the very least she could do was bear witness to the evidence of her own failure.

After a moment, he lifted his hands. Expecting him to hurt her in some way, make her pay for killing Allison, Vanya flinched away, shutting her eyes at the first sign of movement. When the blow never came, she opened her eyes to be greeted by his gaze, which had progressed from sad to pained, and his arms held open, waiting for her to step into his embrace. The sight was all she needed to lose what was left of her composure. Her face crumpled and tears made their appearance as she closed the space between them.

Klaus held her tight as sobs wracked her small frame. She muttered the words “I’m sorry” and “I didn’t mean to” into his sleeveless army-green jacket over and over, stuck on those two phrases like a broken record. He tightened his hold on her minutely when her muffled apologies reached his ears. It was comforting, too comforting. It was a thousand times better than she deserved but she couldn’t bring herself to pull away. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had hugged her this way, purely to comfort her without expecting anything in return—for all she knew, nobody ever had. Eventually, her tears began to subside, leaving behind the occasional hiccup.

“Can you tell her I’m sorry?” she whispered. Klaus was the only one who could help her. She needed him to make Allison understand that she was right all along, about Leonard and everything else. Allison needed to know that she had been a good sister to Vanya in the end, better than she deserved. She was the one who failed, not Allison. It was too late for her to tell Allison all the things she wished she had said before. She needed Klaus to tell Allison that she was sorry, and she loved her too—more than she would ever know. She was just—

“I can, but I think it would sound better coming from you.”

“What?” She pulled away just enough to look up at him. His reply had caught her off guard and she was pretty sure she hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Come, tell her yourself,” Klaus said, looking down to meet her gaze. Seeing the look of utter confusion that crawled over her features at his statement he elaborated. “Allison’s alive.”

“Really?”

“Mhm,” he nodded. “She’s been asking about you since she woke up.”

“She wants to see me?” Vanya’s eyes filled with tears once more but this time they were tears of relief. She couldn’t bring herself to believe it. Her sister was alive. She was alive and still wanted to see her. Allison had every right to never want anything to do with her again. She’d nearly killed her, in fact, she thought she had.

“Yeah. Luther’s been out of his head trying to get her to rest, but you know Allison. Once she sets her mind to something she’ll keep at it until she gets what she wants. She refuses to relax until she sees you. She’s worried about you…and she’s not the only one.” He gave her a light squeeze at that last statement before letting her go. A small smile graced his face and suddenly he appeared more like the Klaus she knew, one she hadn’t really seen since they were kids. “Rumor says you’ve got some kickass powers you just discovered. If you ever need someone to talk to or just to help you figure it out, I’d be glad to lend an ear or a hand.”


End file.
